The Growth Mindset, or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Feedback
I used to be a very stuck up and self-important person. We're talking a very stuck up person. When I was hit with negative feedback, my response was a combination of defensive statements, counterarguments, projection, and, eventually, lock-down. "So what changed?" you might ask. Well, it was a lot of hard learning. A few years ago, my friends decided to come together and air their grievances against me, all at once, no softening of blows. Hearing one of them would have been enough to sour my mood, but four at once was too much for the walls I had built. To make a long story short, I ruined those friendships, and it hurt me a lot, so I started therapy to better understand my own emotions and how to not be a bad friend. Peter Sellers as Dr. Strangelove in: Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, Photo from AV Club The other major change happened much more subtly. As a judge for Magic the Gathering, one thing we pride ourselves on i...